In a confident move, BYD is offering 1,000 yuan to any driver that can beat the company’s pre-release Model Qin in 400-meter drag races. The Qin, a hybrid sedan, is being marketed mainly for two new features: a 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time of 5.9 seconds, and better fuel economy than most petrol models and hybrid predecessors.
Many video clips of races involving the Qin in various cities have been posted online (see for example here and here), and these show the Qin going head-to-head with the Audi TT, the Porsche 911 and various other models. Based on the great numbers of comments generated by these videos, BYD’s promotion campaign appears to have been quite successful in garnering some buzz.
GW.com.cn, a business website, ran a story on November 26 quoting an unnamed BYD marketing manager as saying that the company had already received over 2,000 pre-orders and its factory in Xi’an was gearing up production to ensure supply after the Qin’s official launch date, scheduled for December. The source also said that the government’s release of a list of new environmental protection model cities has sped up the Qin’s launch.
Companies and brands affected
BYD Company Limited (HKG:1211)
Image source: Autoblog Green